Federal financial assistance can contribute to the success of a
local rural development strategy. However, the total amount of
Federal funding received by an area may be less important than the
mix of Federal assistance and its fit with the local rural
development strategy. ERS analysis of Federal funding shows that
most of Federal funding comes in the form of payments to
individuals for social security, retirement, Medicare and Medicaid,
farm payments, federal procurement and salaries, and expenditures
on national defense and other national functions. Moreover, these
programs are not distributed equally across the country. The amount
of such Federal assistance varies by region and type of rural
county. The geographic distribution of Federal funding also varies
by type of assistance, such as loans, grants, direct payments to
individuals, etc. For data on the distribution of Federal funds by
function, region, and type, see tables 
. The urban/rural distribution of Federal funds
also varies from State to State (See the ERS State Fact
Sheets). For more information about data on the
geographic distribution of Federal funding see Federal Funds
Data.
USDA's rural development programs include the infrastructure
programs of the Rural Utilities Service, business programs of the
Rural Business-Cooperative Service, and housing and community
development programs of the Rural Housing Service (see USDA-Rural Development). Moreover,
the form of the assistance (grants, loans, guaranteed loans) makes
a difference in the extent of targeting, both to rural areas and to
distressed areas (See
The Form of Rural Development Assistance Matters to Distressed
Counties in Amber Waves, and the longer
report, Geographic
Targeting Issues in the Delivery of Rural Development
Assistance).
The 2011 ERS report Impacts of Regional Approaches to Rural Development:
Initial Evidence on the Delta Regional Authority, estimated
some of the economic impacts of one such program. Earlier ERS
research examined data from the EDA's public works program
investments in water and sewer facilities (see
Economic Impact of Water/Sewer Facilities in Rural and Urban
Communities
). ERS has also looked into other
aspects of Federal programs as they relate to rural development,
including USDA's housing programs (
Meeting the Housing Needs of Rural Residents: Results of the 1998
Survey of USDA's Single Family Direct Loan Housing Program),
and
Federal credit programs more generally and their role in rural
areas. ERS has also described programs affected by the
rural development title of the 2008 Farm Act, and examined
policy issues of continuing relevance, such as the pros and cons of
using block grants for rural development (see
How Would Rural Areas Fare Under Block Grants
?). In addition, ERS
researchers have written a history
of Federal rural development policy, available from the Rural
Information Center's web site, providing background information
about how and why Federal rural development programs were
created.